# Introduction
> This documentation covers **procman v0.22.0**.
**procman** is a Foreman-like process supervisor written in Rust. It reads a
`.pman` configuration file, spawns all listed commands, and multiplexes
their output to the terminal with right-aligned name prefixes. When any child
exits or a signal arrives, procman tears everything down cleanly.
## Key Features
- **Dependency-aware startup ordering** — jobs can wait on HTTP health
checks, TCP ports, file existence, file content, or the exit of another
job before starting.
- **Multiplexed output** — every line is prefixed with the originating job
name, right-aligned for easy scanning.
- **Per-process log files** — each job gets its own log in `logs/procman`,
plus a combined `procman.log`.
- **Process output** — a job can write `KEY=VALUE` pairs to
`$PROCMAN_OUTPUT`; downstream jobs and services reference them with `@job.KEY` syntax.
- **Fan-out** — use `for` blocks with globs, literal arrays, or ranges to
spawn multiple instances of a job.
- **User-defined CLI arguments** — define typed arguments in a `config { }`
block and pass them after `--` on the command line. Arg values are
available as `args.name` expressions and flow into shell via env vars.
- **Conditional job execution** — use `job name if expr { }` to evaluate an
expression before spawning; falsy results skip the job entirely.
- **On-demand tasks** — `task` blocks define one-shot processes that don't
auto-start; trigger them with `-t`/`--task` for test suites, migrations,
or other on-demand operations.
- **Clean shutdown** — Ctrl-C sends SIGTERM to every child, waits 2 seconds,
then sends SIGKILL to anything still running.
## Design Principles
The `.pman` language is built on three core ideas:
- **Declarative** — `.pman` describes what to run and when, not how. Runtime
semantics (polling, fan-out tracking, shutdown cascades) remain procman's
domain.
- **Two worlds, clearly separated** — procman expressions use their own
syntax. Shell blocks are opaque strings. Values flow into shell exclusively
via environment variables. Procman never interpolates inside shell strings.
- **Strict typing** — type errors in expressions cause immediate shutdown.
No silent coercion.
## Installation
```sh
cargo install procman
```
Or clone and build from source:
```sh
git clone https://github.com/wbbradley/procman.git
cd procman
cargo install --path .
```
## Links
- [GitHub repository](https://github.com/wbbradley/procman)
- [crates.io](https://crates.io/crates/procman)